Taautos

Taautos is Philo's chain of custody. The claim is that Philo translated Sanchuniathon, who in turn drew on Taautos, who invented writing — so the text presents itself as coming from the person who invented the medium it is written in, which is a very old move. He is Thoth, and Philo says so, listing the names the Egyptians, the Alexandrians and the Greeks use. In a Phoenician cosmogony the alphabet is the invention that gets a god, which is fair: the Phoenicians did more than anyone to spread it.

Parentage

• parent: Misor

Domains

• writing

Relations

• counterpart of: ThothPhilo says the identification outright, which makes this one of the few cross-tradition equations in the registry that comes from an ancient source rather than a modern comparison.Philo of Byblos, identifying Taautos with the god the Egyptians call Thouth. (primary)

Sources

• Taautos is the inventor of letters in Philo of Byblos's Phoenician History, son of Misor, whom Philo identifies with the Egyptian Thoth and the Greek Hermes.: Philo of Byblos, Phoenician History. (primary); Reference treatment of Philo of Byblos, who claims to draw on a Phoenician source by Sanchuniathon, who in turn drew on the teachings of Taautos. (secondary)